Undoing
by MysticalLove1
Summary: Ever wonder how everything would play out if their roles were switched? In Mockingjay/Catching fire, Katniss is the one who gets rescued from the Quarter Quell, But how would it be if Peeta was the one rescued instead?
1. Chapter 1

**Undoing**

*** Sorry for the suckish title, my friend made it up**

**Disclamer : I own none of these characters (I wish I owned peeta though) and all rights go to Suzanne! blah blah blah *enter more legal stuff here*** **I used some parts of Catching** **Fire because I wanted to show how It was like in Peetas point of view and I tried to put every detail Katniss saw from Peeta's P.O.V :)**

**Prologue:**

**Taken**  
>Beetee and Finnick are on opposite sides of the tree, attaching wire around it back and forth. Katniss, Johanna, and I stand guard just in case any intruders come by. I look at what Beetee and Finnick are doing, and I hope Beetee planned this out well, but who am I to judge? I know nothing about electricity, so hopefully Beetee knows what he's doing. They finish wrapping around the wire on the tree when the wave starts. Beetee comes over and tells us his plan. Since Katniss and Johanna move quickly and quietly through the trees, he wants them to go unwind the wire through the jungle. I don't want to separate from her, I planned she was going to win, and I had to be next to her to protect her.<br>"I want to go with them as a guard," I say immediately.  
>"You're too slow, Besides, I'll need you on this end. Katniss will guard," says Beetee. "There's no time to debate this. I'm sorry. If the girls are to get out of there alive, they need to move now." He hands the coil to Johanna. I try to keep my calm. They wouldn't kill off Katniss like this. Would they? You can't trust anyone in the games though. I was about to complain when Katniss speaks.<br>"It's okay," She tells me. "We'll just drop the coil and come straight back up,"  
>"Not in the lightning zone," Beetee reminds Katniss and Johanna. "Head for the tree in the one-to-two-o'clock sector. If you find you're running out of time, move over one more. Don't even think about going to the beach, though, until I can assess the damage." I decide to let Katniss go. She'll come back quickly anyway. She takes my face in her hands. "Don't worry. I'll see you at midnight." She gives me a kiss, and I want to object, but she turns around to Johanna. "Ready?"<p>

"Why not?" says Johanna with a shrug. She seems annoyed. "You guard, I'll unwind. We can trade off later." They run down the slope.  
>I sigh and lay on a tree. Hopefully nothing will happen to Katniss.<br>"Peeta!" yells Beetee. "Come over here."  
>Reluctantly, I walk over to Beetee and Finnick. "Finnick is going to help me carry this rock away from the tree. I'm afraid it might cause some disturbance with the lightning. I need you to check if anything happens to the wire."<br>"So, I just baby-sit the wire?" I ask.  
>Beetee smiles "Sure, just baby-sit the wire. We won't take long."<br>Finnick walks over to me. I hope my face wasn't that easy to read.  
>"Don't worry. Nothing is going to happen to Katniss. We have it all planned out."<br>"Thanks." I say "But seriously, I'm fine."  
>"Sure." Says Finnick, using heavy sarcasm. Beetee and Finnick start walking over to the rock and then start lifting it up while I stare at the wire. "Everything's fine." I tell myself. "Nothing bad can happen in such a short amount of time." By telling myself this, It makes me calmer. I look at the sky. It's dark. I dislike the temperature of this place. It's very humid and warm. It's my least favorite type of weather. Beetee and Finnick toss the rock in the water. I look back at the wire. My blood turns cold. The string is slack. Not as strong as it was before. Someone cut the wire.<br>"Beetee! Finnick!" I scream. "Someone cut the wire!"  
>"What?" says Beetee, in shock.<br>"I'm going to find Katniss and Johanna!" Screams Finnick, running like a mad man into the jungle. This surprises me. Surely he doesn't care about Katniss, right? He seems overly worried about her. I don't know if I like it. I take out my knife, predicting a fight. Someone not very far away must have cut the wire. Katniss! Where is she! She's not dead yet. No cannon has been fired. But it's a matter of time before someone dies. Turning to run into the jungle, Beetee grabs my shoulder.  
>"Don't." Says Beetee "Finnick is trying to find Katniss and Johanna. He has a better chance than you to find them." I shake his hand off and start running. I'm so stupid! How could I have let them separate me from Katniss! I had to be next to her, no matter what! What if this was all a trick? To make us trust them, then separate us to kill us. That seemed like a lot of planning on their part, but I wouldn't put that behind them. I run, trying to follow the wire.<p>

I hear Finnick shouting "Johanna! Katniss!". Then I hear a cannon. Someone died. Please

Please don't let it be Katniss. I run faster. I search for my knife. It's not there. I probably dropped it! I keep running, faster, faster. I will my legs to go faster.  
>"Katniss!" I shout. "Katniss!"<br>"Peeta!" She screams. "Peeta! I'm here! Peeta! I'm here! I'm here!"  
>She's screaming too much. She's going get people to notice her. I try to search for her, but can't see her. I try to follow where I heard her voice. The insects are getting dangerously quiet. I see Enobaria and Finnick at the lightning tree. I don't care if they can see me anymore. I have to get to Katniss.<br>A cannon fires.  
>"Katniss!" I yell even louder. "Katniss!"<br>No response.  
>I want to curl up and die. Why should I live if she died. It's all my fault. It's my fault I let them separate us. She could have been alive if it wasn't for my stupid choices. We should've broken the alliance when we had the chance. I should have listened to her! All of a sudden, I see Katniss. She was hiding. Relief fills my body. I start running towards her. She pulls her bow up, hitting the force field. Sparks run up the wire, paralyzing her. I yell.<br>Darkness is all I see when I fall.

Chapter 1:

I feel weird. I have no idea if what I see is real or just a dream. A hovercraft is above me. What just happened? Did Katniss just blow up the arena? Thinking hurts, so I just stop. I let the claw that drops from the sky carry me. It freezes me, Just like the claw that picked us up from the other Hunger Games. Why are they picking me up now? Has everyone died instead of me? Have I won The Hunger Games? Very unlikely. Is this the capitol, just trying to torture me? Plutarch Heavensbee appears before me. So, it is the capitol? The head gamemaker didn't like how The Hunger Games played out, so now he's going to torture me in front of the whole Panem? Fine by me. Better me than Katniss. I want to close me eyes. I don't want to see anything. As if he's read my mind, he closes my eyes for me. I fall asleep.

I'm on a padded table, with tubes in my arms. I have a thin sheet of clothes on me. My old clothes are on the chair. I stay still. I'm too shocked to do anything. Why am I here? At least I'm not alone. Beetee lies in front of me, Which confirms my theory that I didn't win. So, again, what are we doing here? I fall asleep again.

I don't have tubes in my arms anymore, thankfully. I try to sit and get over comed by dizziness that I lay down again. Haymitch comes in the room. Haymitch! So, it's not the capitol either.  
>"Well," Haymitch says "Sleeping Beauty finally awakes."<p>

This annoys me. After all I've been through, he still has the nerve to be sarcastic and drunk.  
>"What am I doing here?" I say in a small voice. I cough to clear my throat.<br>"What am I doing here?" I say more forcefully.  
>He explains the plan about trying to keep us alive in the arena and how everyone agreed to die for us. That explains the morphling who died to protect me. <p>

"Wait, where's Katniss?" I ask, warily.  
>"She was taken by the capitol, With Johanna and Enobaria." He looks away.<br>Dread, anger, sadness. The wave of emotions is too much. Haymitch told me he would do everything to protect Katniss, and now she's gone. A tear escapes my eye and I quickly wipe it away.  
>"Why didn't you protect her!" I yell. I want to break his neck. I want him to feel the pain I'm feeling. "You promised me we would do everything we could to save her! Not me!"<br>"I know," says Haymitch.  
>"You promised!" My voice cracks.<br>"We couldn't save her!" He yells. "We tried to get all of you, but they got to her! We tried!"  
>"What about my family, are they here?" I lower my voice, afraid of the answer.<br>Haymitch looks at me with sympathy. As If I wanted any of that.  
>"Your family didn't make it Peeta." He says "I'm sorry."<br>"Get out!" I yelled, another tear escaping. "Get out!"  
>Haymitch stands up and goes away. I bury my face in my pillow, hating myself, hating Haymitch, hating everybody, and fall into colorless nightmares.<p>

In my nightmare, I'm happy with Katniss. She's not in the clutches of the capitol anymore. We smile at each other. We're together. My family is fine, at the bakery. I'm happy. I'm about to hug her when someone stabs her in the back. Our smiles go away. I scream, in shock. The person behind her stabs her repeatedly, I try to help her, but I'm stuck, unable to come to her. She falls to the ground to reveal the person who killed her.  
>President Snow.<p>

I wake up, gasping for air. Katniss told me I never screamed while having a nightmare. I just get paralyzed. I'm glad. I don't want people to know I have nightmares. After hearing about Katniss being abducted and my familys death, I feel numb. Beside me, there's a small breakfast of one roll with chicken soup. I eat the roll, but leave the chicken soup. I don't feel very hungry. I stand up. I decide to walkaround and see where I am. I'm not too sure If I could go around the place though, so i quietly put on my old clothes, and walk on my toes. While I look around me, I see that the place is underground. District 13. I don't really love living underground, but I could still live a few days with out getting claustrophobic. I don't like being in cramped up spaces though. People stare at me. Do I look weird? That's when I notice everyone's wearing some kind of gray clothing. I, apparently, stick out like a sore thumb. I was not doing a good job of staying hidden. Plutarch comes over to me.  
>"Peeta!" He says "Your supposed to be in your bed!"<br>"I'm sorry." I say, not sorry at all. I make up an excuse "I just really had to talk to Haymitch,"  
>"Well, your not supposed to be walking around," Says Plutarch "But I don't blame you at all. You probably want to know where you are. We're just keeping you in the dark. I'll pretend not to see you, but you have to put on this." He hands me some very unflattering pair of clothes.<p>

"Everyone has to wear these." He walks away. Weird. I barely even knew Plutarch, yet he does me a little favor. He's not all bad. I walk back to my bed and put on the clothes.  
>"Knock Knock!" says Delly Cartwright "Can I come in?"<br>"Delly!" I run over to her and hug her, happy to see at least one friendly face.  
>"Your alive!"<br>"Of course I am!" She laughs. "I'm really lucky Gale was there to save people, or else I would just be a pile of bones." She frowns slightly. "Coin wants to see you."  
>I was expecting this. They had to inform me on how to be the "Mockingjay" after their real one was gone. It sickened me how easily she could be replaced. No one cared for her. They only wanted her for her image. All because of the berries.<br>"Why?" I ask anyway, just to make sure.  
>"I don't know. She just asked me to come and tell you." She pauses. "You probably don't know who she is, huh?" She asks. I shake my head. "Well, She's supposedly the next ruler of Panem. If we win, of course. She's helping lead the battle. A director, let's say." She smiles. "Come on, I'll show you where she Is."<br>We walk through the underground city, which I still dislike very much. People seem to live in little compartments. One for each family. While walking, I wonder who else made It out of the arena alive. Beetee made it, I saw him next to me at some point in my waking up and blacking out phase, but I wonder if Finnick made it. Now that I knew how they risked their lives for us, I don't have any miss givings about him anymore. It doesn't mean I trust him. I don't dislike him. He hasn't done anything wrong. He even saved my life when I hit the force field in the arena. If I dislike him, I must dislike everybody. I probably just dislike everyone except for Delly now.  
>"We're here!" She says in an overly giddy voice. "I'm gonna go now cause I think this Is a private meeting for you and her. Good luck though!"<br>"Thanks." I smile to show that I really am grateful. I open the door. The room is a  
>a surprisingly empty room. The walls are grey, just like the clothes, and there's only a place for two people, even though there can be a lot more. It's only a one-on-one talk with Coin though, so it doesn't matter. I hate to admit it does make it more intimidating.<br>"Hello, Peeta."  
>"Hello." I say, keeping my face free of emotions. "Delly said you wanted to talk to me?"<br>"Yes, please take a seat." It sounded more like an order. I sit in the seat across from her.  
>"You may have an idea of how this all happened, correct, Peeta?"<br>"Correct." I repeat.  
>"Since we saved you, we need you to be our mockingjay." She looks me in eye.<br>"Are you willing to be our mockingjay?"

**Please review! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2:

"Are you willing to be our mockingjay?" She repeats, wanting an answer.  
>I don't look away, because looking away shows fear, and I'm trying to keep my face free of emotions. I don't know why though. My best guess is that I don't want to look like I'm scared. I don't want her to make any guesses about me and how I react. First impressions are everything, after all. Should I be the mockingjay? Can I be the mockingjay?<br>"I'm willing." I respond "But it depends on what I have to do, and after I hear the complete story."

Haymitch told me they had a plan to rescue Katniss and me all along, but only managed to save me. How everyone risked their lives for us, at all costs, for the rebellion. That's all he told me, and I wanted to know details. Delly said something about Gale rescuing her. What was that all about? I didn't even bother asking, but now I wanted to know. I wondered If Gale was alive, and I really hoped he was. Sure, he made me jealous enough to want to break something, and that I wasn't proud of, but he loved Katniss too, and I didn't want anyone dead. Not even Snow. He's a human being. An evil human being, but still, human.  
>"In the Quarter Quell," begins Coin "We sent you breads from some districts to indicate the time of the break in. Finnick knew and counted the bread to see when the times were." She pauses to make sure I'm listening. I nod to show I understand. "We didn't plan Katniss to shoot an arrow through the force field, and her knowledge of the chink in the force field is still a mystery. When she did that, It sent the place into an uproar. Everyone was caught off guard. We went in with our crew, and tried to save Katniss, but we saw they have already abducted her. We tried to search for as many people as possible to save. We managed to rescue Finnick, Beetee, and you. District 12 was bombed after the news of the break in. Gale Hawthorn managed to save many people, but more than eighty percent of District 12 was killed."<p>

She pauses, not sure If I have received the news, "Including your family." My face almost cracks, but I manage to keep it expressionless .  
>" There's not much left after that, Peeta. When we rescued you, we hoped you would help us talk the Districts into fighting harder. Give them a reason to fight for. Even a small reason." She looks at me, wanting the final answer. "So, what will it be? Will you be our mockingjay?" I take a long time to answer. Thinking everything through. I can't make a rushed decision about something this big.<br>"Give me a day to think about it." I say.  
>I walk back into my hospital bed, feeling sick, dragging my feet on the ground. I wish I would just get a compartment like every other family here. Of course, a compartment for one person is kinda selfish. I couldn't care less anymore. Maybe I could ask for a compartment as one of my conditions of being a mockingjay. Anywhere else than a hospital bed. It makes me feel sad. I think about Coin and how she's supposed to rule Panem if we win. Who made that decision? It seems unfair somehow. Unless everyone chose her when I wasn't here. Then I guess it would be fair.<br>I don't understand. I wish someone would explain why I'm here instead of Katniss. I mean, I understand, but I wanted a good reason. A reason why I should lead the rebels instead of her. There was none. After all, she's the mockingjay, not me. I'm just the pretty boy next to her. What am I supposed to do? They should've put all their resources in saving her. With all of their lies, I don't think I want to help them anymore. They didn't tell me and Katniss anything of their plan to rescue us. They never tell me anything, not even from the first Hunger Games. I don't, and can't, trust anyone anymore. My family's all dead. No one else I can tell my secrets too is alive. I don't know if I can even trust Delly completely. People change. People can betray.

The only person left is Katniss. Only Katniss.  
>And she's gone.<br>I'm completely on my own.

* * *

><p><strong>COMMENT: Yeah yeah I know. This chapter is really small, like appetizer small, but in my defense, I wanted people to notice my story a little bit more before I started writing longer chapters :) My goal is to get at least 8 reviews! I'll post the next part of this original chapter when I reach 8 reviews! Thanks to everyone who reviewed my first chapter :) Reviews make me feel warm and fuzzy inside feel free to leave constructive criticism too.<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER: Me does not own Peeta or any other awesome Characters.. duh..  
>Ok well, here's chapter 3! I've been really lazy these days.. but I finished it so yay <strong>

CHAPTER 3:

I've never been more bored and lonely in my life. At the bakery, I spent practically my whole day working, baking bread, icing cakes, etcetera. Except for school, of course. Now, I have all this free time on my hands, with nothing to do. If I agree to be the "mockingjay" I'm sure I'll have a lot of work. I might even be overwhelmed. For now though, there's nothing to do. I decide to find Delly. I take a short shower and put on the ugly gray clothing. If they don't give me my own compartment soon, I'm going to start going crazy. I put on my equally ugly gray shoes and walk outside my little hospital space. I think about Haymitch, and feel terrible at how I yelled at him. I'm not naturally that violent. He did kinda deserve it though. For lying to me, to katniss. To all of us. Finding Delly was easier than I thought. She was laying on her side on a random wall, Looking into empty space. I walk over behind her, put my hands across her eyes, and say "Guess who?" In a shrilly girl voice. She laughs. I take my hands away from her eyes and she turns around.  
>"Darn," she says, with a fake disappointment "I could've sworn you were some girl with that voice."<br>"Ha ha." I say in a monotone voice. She laughs again.  
>"What were you thinking about?" I ask, generally curious.<br>"Oh, nothing." Says Delly "Sometimes I think about the capitol, or what's happening. There's nothing much to do here except think, and I can't help think that we won't win this war and have an even worse life." She's disturbed and shudders "But I'm trying to think positive thoughts." She adds, and smiles.  
>"Don't worry. Everything will turn out fine." I promise, even though I'm not sure myself. "It'll all be over before we know it." That's what I hope, at least.<br>"Yeah, I guess." She shrugs, dismissing the thought. "Anyway, want to go do something? I need something to take my mind of of all this drama." My mind comes up blank. Like Delly said, there's nothing more to do except think and only think of the worst. After a few moments, I figure out what we could do.  
>"How about we go to the kitchen?" I suggest "I wanted to bake something. Plus I haven't seen anywhere else expect for this hallway and my bed."<br>"Ok sure, whatever you want." Delly says, going along with the plan. We walk side by side, awkward at first, but then I think of a question I forgot to ask her and wanted to know.  
>"Delly?" I say softly.<br>"Yeah." She responds. I cough.  
>"How did Gale save you?" I ask, hoping it isn't too personal.<br>"Well," Delly starts "I was just coming home from school, and I found Gale's notebook on the street. I decided to go return it to him. When I finally caught up to him, I gave him the book and he thanked me. Then the bombings started. He protected me with his body and took me to the wilderness. He gathered up many miners and people. I tried to help. Without him, we wouldn't have had so many people from district 12 here today. Including me." She looks at me "I guess I was just lucky. I'm very glad I decided to return it to him right away or else I'd most likely be dead."  
>"Did your family survive?" I ask.<br>"No." Sadness fills her voice "Only my brother, Henry." This saddens me. Delly's parents liked me and they were really nice to me. At least Henry survived. I don't say I'm sorry though. I don't get why people say they're sorry. It isn't their fault something bad happened to that person. Talking about her family reminds me that I lost my whole family. The pain hits me hard in the chest.  
>"Are you ok?" Asks Delly, clearly concerned. I regain my composure. She just told me that her family died, yet she's concerned about me. Only Delly.<br>"I'm fine." I give her a unconvincing smile. "So, where's the kitchen?" I say, trying to change the subject. I probably shouldn't have said that too fast. I bet she knows that I'm trying to steer the conversation somewhere else, but she just pretends she doesn't notice.  
>"Right here." She looks at the sign above her head. It says lunchroom.<br>"Cool. Cool." I look at her and stick my arms out towards the door. "Ladies first." She smiles and enters the kitchen. I follow right behind her. The first thing that hits me are the smells. It's the first time I notice how hungry I actually am. People everywhere are eating and talking.  
>"Stop drooling Peeta." She laughs "Did you eat anything?"<br>"No, It's fine though." I say, not wanting to worry her.  
>"No, It's not fine." Says Delly. "Let's go get some food in you." She pulls my arm towards the kitchen. I don't hesitate, since I'm really hungry. The doors are separated by two doors, one that says In and one that says Out. Of course we enter through the In door. The smell of the busy kitchen filled my lungs and I was practically drooling. Soups, breads, and deserts were being passed out to the designated people.<br>"Usually you have to eat the size portion they give you." Delly says "But I don't think they'd mind. Did you get your schedule yet?"  
>"What schedule?" I ask, confused.<br>"Okay that's a no. Every day you have to stick your arm into this wall," She says, clearly not liking the routine of the schedule. "And in purple ink it tells you where your supposed to go. Like training." She scrunched up her face. "I'd really just prefer to sit around and do nothing, but I guess I am grateful that I don't have to stand around and think of all the bad stuff. Anyway, want something to eat?"  
>"Food." I respond nonchalantly.<br>"Something a little more specific." She says, hiding a hint of a smile.  
>"How about some soup?" I respond.<br>"Any kind of soup or something specific?"  
>"Chicken soup."<br>"Okay, coming right up."  
>"Thank you Delly." She winks. "Don't mention it." She goes deeper into the kitchen, putting in my request. I grab a random stool and sit. My mind goes relatively blank and I like the feeling of not having to think of anything specifically bad. Delly comes in a few minutes later, carrying a tray.<br>"I felt like chicken soup was a little bit of food, so I brought you some other stuff too." She says. Smiling, she passes me a tray of goods. She brought me chicken soup, as requested, apple juice and water, some bread topped with nuts, and vanilla ice cream.  
>"Thank you Delly, I really appreciate it." I say to her, putting all the sincerity into my voice as possible.<br>"Peeta, seriously, no problem." She says laughing. "We've been friends since we were little. I'm really glad your alive."  
>"Yeah, I'm glad too." I say. Behind her, a man yells "Delly! Can you come over here! I need your help!" She sighs.<br>"I have to go. Eat, okay?" And with that she leaves. I decide to change my minor distrust of saying anything to her. I've known her for a long time. I feel like I can trust her. With that thought, I dig in and eat everything on my tray. I recognize the bread as a croissant. Not knowing what to do with my tray, I put it in a random sink. Being in the kitchen reminded me of home. Weekends were always the busiest days of the week in the bakery. I remembered the cold, chilly night when I stood near an oven to keep me warm. I remembered the hot, tiring days where I wanted to get out of the bakery for a little bit, but mother never let me. She told me the bakery was never to be uncared for. She was always a strict woman. Sometimes she was nice though. I miss her. She was only trying to discipline me and now that she's gone, It hurts. She's in a better place now, I tell myself. No one can hurt her anymore. Hating to admit it though, I'll always miss my dad more, even if by a little bit. He never hit me. He was always on my side. He was easy on me. To me, he was the best father a kid could have. I'll miss my brothers too. Max, my strong, older brother, will always be in my heart. Along with Chris, my younger brother. On the corner of my eye, I spy a flour bag and some ingredients. I decide to wait for Delly to ask her If I could bake. Not much seconds later after thinking that, she comes back into the room, looking tired. She has an apron on top of her clothes.  
>"Lionel just needed some help giving people food. No big deal." She says, taking of her apron and putting it on the stool I sat in.<br>"Did you eat everything?"  
>"Yeah, I did. Hey I was meaning to ask you something."<br>"Shoot"  
>"Do you think I could bake here sometime? It makes me feel better. It's like a hobby." She thinks about it for a while.<br>"Yeah, you can." She says finally. "But not today. They're really busy today. You can bake tomorrow."  
>"Okay." I say.<br>"Let's get out of the kitchen. It's kinda stuffy." She says, heading through the door. I follow behind her. halfway through the kitchen, I stop abruptly. She stops when she sees I stopped and looks at me, concerned. 


	4. Chapter 4

"Let's get out of the kitchen. It's kinda stuffy." She says, heading through the door. I follow behind her. halfway through the kitchen, I stop abruptly. She stops when she sees I stopped and looks at me, concerned.  
>"Something wrong?"<br>Gale looks at me straight in the eyes from across the room. He sits in a table with Beetee and Finnick, talking about who knows what. They all follow Gales gaze towards me, but I just notice one thing. Only one word can describe the flow of emotion he has in his dark eyes.  
>Revenge.<p>

His gaze intimidates me some, but I give him an equally cruel glare to show I'm not backing down, even though I'm not really sure why I'm angry at him. My gaze only lasts a few seconds though.  
>"Peeta, what's wrong?" Says Delly.<br>"Nothing." I respond. Delly follows my gaze. She looks at me questionably.  
>"What's up with Gale?" She asks "Fuzzy relationship between the two of you?"<br>"You could say that." I say sourly. She looks sad. Then, In a very overly happy voice says "Well, let's go say hi!" She grabs my arm and pulls me towards them. Finnick waves, Beetee smiles politely, and Gale just keeps staring daggers at me. A face of pure disgust hits his face once more before he turns around and pretends to not see me coming towards them. Delly nudges me to say something first. I nudge her back. She nudges me harder, so I just decide to speak.  
>"Hey guys." I say uncomfortably.<br>"Hello Peeta." Says Beetee good naturally. "Want to sit with us?"  
>"Nope." I say softly so only Delly can hear me. Delly nudges me really hard. "Yeah sure." I say loudly, and sit directly across the table from Gale. Talk about awesome seating choice.<br>"Did you eat anything? My favorite is the fish soup." Says Finnick, trying to make the atmosphere less tense. What a weird topic he chose though. Fish soup. I guess there's not much more to talk about. I give him points for trying.  
>"Yeah, I ate chicken soup." I say. The silence that comes next is awkward.<br>"I've heard your good at electronic stuff Beetee." Says Delly.  
>"Yeah, I guess you could say I'm a wiz with technology." He smiles. "I've been creating weapons to help out in the war."<br>"Oh really? Like what?" Says Delly, interested.  
>"Well, I've made some cannons that shot off time bombs. You could make them explode in ten seconds or ten days. They go long distance."<br>"That's cool." Says Delly nodding. "What are you doing Finnick? Anything special?"  
>"Oh, nothing." He says with a hint of boredom. "Just talking to you." He winks at Delly. She looks at me and rolls her eyes, though I suspect a hint of blush. She nudges me in the ribs. It takes me a moment to figure out what I did wrong (with girls you never know). Then I notice how she asked Beetee and Finnick about their lives. The only one that she didn't ask was Gale. She wanted me to ask him how he was, to be friends, but no amount of nudging would make me talk to him first. I nudge her a little harder than usual so we don't have to keep up the little charade. I also give her a tiny glare, just to make sure she gets it. She sighs but surrenders.<br>"So, Gale, anything going on with you?" She turns to him.  
>"No, not really." Is all he responds, not really open to conversation. A little bit of awkward silence passes before Delly decides it's hopeless to try to keep up a conversation, especially since the only one who is cooperative is Beetee.<br>"Well, Peeta and I must be going." She says awkwardly. She stands up and I stand up too, following her lead. "We have to," She pauses, thinking of a good excuse. "We have to get Peetas schedule. It's been nice talking to you guys."  
>"Don't hesitate to come back." Says Gale while looking at me. He puts very heavy sarcasm into his words. Beetee shoots him an irritated look, then he turns to me.<br>"Sorry Peeta. Gale is just on his period and he seems to be a little moody these days. You know, the usual. It's got me a little fed up to tell you the truth." This surprises me. To hear Beetee saying something like this is a sight I thought I'd never see. He seems like the very polite type. I almost burst out laughing.  
>"Bah humbug." mutters Gale. He turns around. If this were a cartoon, he would have smoke coming out of his ears.<br>"Oh, well, I'm sorry to hear that." Says Delly, smiling. "Well, Got to go!" She goes towards the exit door and I follow. Once outside of the lunchroom I say  
>"Wow, never thought Beetee would say something like that."<br>"Oh you know, that wasn't so bad."  
>"Yeah, I guess." I shrug. "The talk was terrible though. Why did you make me go through that?"<br>"You guys have to be friends! You know what they say! Keep your friends close." She scoots close to me. "And your enemies closer." She scoots even closer to me. I was a little pissed off for her making me go talk to Gale, so I just throw my arms in the air, turn on my heels and go the other direction.  
>"Hey! Where do you think your going mister!" She grabs my arm and even though I could shake her off and keep going, I stop and turn around.<br>"What? Just going to my comfy home, shelter, whatever."  
>"I don't want you to be mad at me!" She puts on a pouty face. "I just wanted everyone to get along." I know she only meant well, but I don't want her to make any more decisions like that for me.<br>"I'm not mad at you." I say "But next time, I won't let you off the hook so easily."  
>"Fine, I promise I won't make you talk to him anymore." She looks a little disappointed. She crosses her arms in defeat.<br>"Good." I smile at her. Behind me, I hear footsteps. The smell of liquor hits me and I automatically know who it is. I don't even have to look. Haymitch. Ugh. I wrinkle my nose in disgust.  
>"Hey Haymitch, what's up?" Delly says.<br>"Save it Delly, I'm not in the mood for chit chat." He says.  
>"Gosh, don't be such a negative Nancy." She drags her voice in a lazy hum. Changing her voice into her regular one she says "I'm going to leave now." She points at us "Clearly you guys have some important, thing to do. Meet me later k?" Without enough time to respond, she skips away, out of sight. I sigh and look at Haymitch. He shouldn't smell of liquor anymore. I doubt they let you drink it here. He probably snuck it in somehow. I pretend not to notice.<br>"What do you want?"  
>"It's not what I want sweetheart. It's what Coin wants, and she wants to see you A.S.A.P." Oh, right, I was supposed to tell her about my choice of being the Mocking jay or not. I didn't even get to ask Delly if it was a good idea to become the Mocking jay.<br>"Okay." I tell him. We walk in silence, towards the lonely conference room where I talked with Coin last time. We stop in front of the door.  
>"Sweetheart." He tells me. "I want you to know whatever you choose, I'll be right by your side. Don't do something because everyone wants you to do it. Do it because you want to." I am moved by his words. He leaves and walks away. I've never hated Haymitch. Even when he gave me the news to Katniss, I never really hated him. I was very angry, but you can never truly hate someone you love. With that thought, I open the door and enter the room. This time, there is more people. The only people I really recognize are Plutarch and Coin though. The rest are complete strangers. Complete upper-class (or as upper-class you can get here) strangers. They were sipping wine and talking. When I entered, people put their glasses down and all talking seized. Coin clapped her hands twice and all the drinks disappeared. They got cleaned out and the cup molded into the tables. Talk about technology.<br>"Peeta, take a seat." Says Plutarch. They're all siting in a circle this time and I sit in the only available seat there. My footsteps echo in the room.  
>"Did you make your decision?" Asks Coin. "As promised, I gave you one day to think about it. Your time is up." I start feeling anxious. I barely even thought about my answer. Talk about not making any rash decisions. That's pretty much my only option at this point. I have to go with my instincts now.<br>"I'll be your Mocking Jay." I decide. People sigh in relief, but I stop them "I have some conditions though." Coin doesn't even flinch at my request.  
>"What are they?"<br>"I want to get my own compartment." I say  
>"Done." She says. People around her are relieved that my request isn't a big one. "Is that all?"<br>"No." I continue "If Katniss lives, by some miracle, I want her to be spared." In the capitol, stuff could happen. Make her say things that she doesn't really mean, and I don't want her to be blamed on the Rebel side.  
>"Easy." Says Coin. She waits a while, not sure if I want anything else.<br>"I don't really want anything else." I say. "You just have to keep your vows. People in this room are witnesses."  
>"I promise, to not break my vows." She says. "If you break your vows to be our Mocking Jay though, Katniss will not be spared."<br>"Fair enough." I shrug.  
>"You should be proud of yourself." Says Plutarch. "Your saving millions of lives by making this decision." and possibly killing many others, I think to myself.<br>"Thank you." Is my response.  
>"Your compartment number will be number 274 in section C." She presses a button and a little beeping sound bounces off the walls.<br>"Here is your room card. To enter your room, just slide it across the card swiper. You are excused now, ." I take the card, bow respectfully and exit the room. I search everywhere until I finally find my compartment. I take out the card from my back pocket and swipe it in the card swiper. My door makes a little beeping noise and automatically opens. I smile and enter the room. The walls are a nice beige color. In the middle of the room it has a king size bed with orange colored bed sheets and pillows. It has no windows or anything, but the furniture is nicer than I thought it would be. I lay the middle of my bed and put my arms behind my head. I take a deep, clean breath. Way better than the hospital. I don't even bother to change my clothes. I toss my card onto the little desk beside my bed, kick off my shoes, and fall asleep. I dream about nothing.


End file.
